Christmas and............. Giving

What shall I tell you today? - no recipes published or talk about food or tastings or or (although I'll tell you my Xmas menu after Xmas as it is a surprise for Olivier, my darling husband, with whom we are doing a Christmas 'en amoureux' for the first time in years!!

(and I know I've promised a couple of recipes in some of my posts over the last month, but they'll come!! Be patient!)

Snowbathing

All I want to share with you on this almost eve of Christmas is the text on 'Giving' from my favourite book in the whole world, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran !

Then said a rich man, 

"Speak to us of Giving."

And he answered:

You give but little when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. 

For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?

And what is fear of need but need itself?

Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable?

There are those who give little of the much which they have - and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all.

These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.

Though the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;

And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving

And is there aught you would withhold?

All you have shall some day be given;

Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'.

You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."

The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.

They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you.

And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.

And what desert greater shall there be than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?

And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?

See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.

For in truth it is life that gives unto life - while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

And you receivers - and you are all receivers - assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.

Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;

For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father.

And in this time of eating and drinking and abundance - food for thought :

http://leb.net/~mira/works/prophet/prophet6.html

Life is about sharing!!
Merry Christmas to you all

Bisous
Lynn

tables tables et encore tables

With Christmas fast approaching, thought I must finish this post on tables that I started a while ago and just do not seem to get done! One of the reasons is that I've been wanting to take a walk in the forest and snap along happily, but boy, oh boy, with today's sub-zero temperatures I have decided to stay put and will add pics later when I have the courage to go out with my camera!
So here goes :

In this hurly-burly very consumerism world we live in, one sometimes thinks that you MUST HAVE THINGS, like your Baccarat Glasses and Cristofle Cutlery and Limoges Porcelain plates etc to be able to create a nice environment, decor, table etc. Not True!! Especially in these penny-pinching times, one must look at different means to have beauty around you instead of spending money!



Just start with LOVE! And then you take a slow walk out there in nature and you pick some nice branches or flowers from your garden or the local park and start your decor! 


Or you pick up a few pebbles at your favourite beach on your next holiday and it becomes your table centre and/or knife and fork rests!
 
Or an ostrich feather or 2, and a couple of chocolates in the same colour as your table cloth and Bob's your uncle! 

What can be easier!

And for easter you roll them coloured eggs all over the table or you choose some golden one's, add an Ostrich egg and there you go. Once again a beautiful table without emptying your pocket on expensive 'props'!

A very talented florist friend from South Africa visited a couple of years ago and said he'll set the table and decorate it for our table d'hôte that evening. Willem went out there and came back with things from my garden that I did not even knew existed! Ok, some of them were flowers planted but there were also weeds (or what we consider weeds) and a branch of this and a goody of that! The result you can see - a spectacular natural table in a jiffy - without a penny spent!

So I tried the same and did a table outside with just rose petals, or another one inside just with 'Buddleia flowers'. Yet another with ivy, or just rambling roses. Very often an accumulation of the same objects/plants gives really good results! And not to forget those candles!!

I really dislike paper serviettes and have found many beautiful white embroidered serviettes at the local brocantes (markets) we have in our region every year! (The brocante of Charroux opens the season end April and people come from far and wide for this event) Most of the serviettes need to be bleached and with a bit of TLC you have these beautiful napkins doing justice to any table!

So me dears, how about doing that next table with a small budget - make it a game! Xmas is upon us and I know you can do it!!
 

Life is about sharing and I love sharing with you!

Bisous

Lynn

Pam and the groovy Gang !

When I first met Pam, it seemed like I met a small whirlwind!
She's always on the move! What energy!!! 
Pam in action during the course

And we hit it off at once! (Uju our joint friend knew what she was doing putting us in contact!) Pam then decided to organise a Cooking Holiday here Aux Jardins des Thevenets and what fun that was! Early September Pam and an old friend, Randy arrived, then Debbie, who was certainly the most applied student in the group, and Annalize all the way from South Africa! A great great group! Every day swirled by in hurly burly activities around food - not just strictly cooking step by step boring boring!

Actually, I've decided to call it not a 
'Cooking Holiday' but 
French Lifestyle Adventure 
and Cooking with Pam!

We did all kinds of wonderful things like visiting the Medieval Village of Charroux where the Mustard Lady, Madame Maenner, showed us how they still grind mustard seeds on an old grinding stone that used to be turned by a donkey but thanks to modern technology, now runs with a motor! 
http://www.huiles-et-moutardes.com/fr

Then off to Saint Pourçain, the oldest vineyards in France, where we had a tasting at the 'Cave' of the Laurent Family! And stocked up with wines like the Cuvée Toussaint for our 'Foie Gras'! http://pagesperso-orange.fr/famille.laurent/

We also had the oppourtunity to eat at our Michelin star restaurant in Vichy, Jacques Decoret http://www.jacquesdecoret.com and I also took them to my very favourite restaurant in the area - L'Auberge du Pont!

All of us Chez Jacques Decoret - Pam in the middle

We spent time at the Vichy market - had lots of fun trying on things, Annalize turning the heads of all the men in the area, and of course oogling over all the food stands - from the cheese counters to our local Charolais meat to veggies and more exotic stands all under one roof.                                                                              The Vichy Market inside - Photo by Pam

The four days together filled with laughter, especially due to Randy's quirky comments, went past much to fast and my life felt empty after they all left!



So why not come along on the next French Lifestyle Adventure and Cooking with Pam previewed for April 2009! 
Watch her Blog for more info and hurry up as there's only room for 7!
http://thegypsychef.blogspot.com/

Life is about sharing!

Bisous
Lynn

Tastings, tastings and more tastings!

Now, I know Napoleon said: 'Impossible n'est pas Français' -  'The impossible is not French' but staying trim and slim during this period of the year here in France is really impossible!

This past week we had the most divine 'Foie Gras' tasting at our local Café - Chez Minou et Kiki. Every year for Christmas, Pascal, the owner of the Café, prepares Foie Gras in various forms and normally invites us for a tasting a little bit beforehand!

Where to start? There were Just normal Foie Gras, Foie gras wrapped in a teatowl (torchon style) and cooked in a chicken stock, Foie Gras cooked in Red wine served with red wine jelly, Foie gras with truffles and my very favourite of the evening, a 'Terrine de Ris de Veau' - Sweetbread Terrine (Sweetbreads are the thymus (throat sweetbread) and the pancreas (heart or stomach sweetbread), especially of the calf and lamb (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten). He served this with a mixture of Pistachios, hazelnuts and almond slivers slightly toasted in the oven and crushed together. Totally yummy!

I know that some of you might not like the idea of 'Foie Gras' - Fat liver - and the birds being force ged, but I can assure you that it is actually a natural phenomenon. In the wilds, migratory birds overeat before their annual migrations. 

Panfried foie gras I sligtly dusted with allspice served with sweetpotatoes and simmered orange peel

A bit of history :  (source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras)

It was the Egyptians who discovered foie gras around 2500 BC. Hunters along the Nile noticed that the liver of the geese were bigger, paler and much tastier during the migration period than the rest of the year. They came to understand that this enlarged liver was the result of the geese overfeeding themselves before their migration. Migratory birds have the genetic capacity to stock surplus food in their liver, which then acts as an energy tank on which the bird can draw during its long and tiring journey.

The Egyptians particularly appreciated the taste of the foie gras, but since it could only be obtained during very short period of the year, they decided to reproduce that natural phenomenon themselves all year round. They started to feed geese with figs in order to get a tasty foie gras. Later on, the geese were replaced with ducks and the figs with corn.

The Jews were the first to develop the art of feeding. In fact, in Central Europe between the 13th and 18th century, they were known for their foie gras of high quality and impressive size. But it was the French who contributed to the popularity of foie gras by improving the feeding technique. It was also the French who developed the various methods for cooking foie gras that are known today. Foie gras torchon style, foie gras in a bloc and foie gras mousse are recipes that were developed by great French chefs. Over the years, the French developed a passion for foie gras that they spread worldwide.

(One of the reasons why I've chosen to live in France!) 

The next tasting happened last Thursday night when we went off to our favourite restaurant in the area : AUBERGE DU PONT (http://auberge-du-pont-billy.com/)

Stéphane Roesch, Chef of 'L'Auberge duPont'

Stéphane organised, with Agnes who owns a delicious Wine boutique in Vichy, La Cave d'Agnes, a tasting of one of the best Rhone Valley producers! (Who they happened to lodge here with us at Aux Jardins des Thevenets!) 

http://www.domaine-gerin.fr/eng/indexeng.htm

Jean-Michel Gerin and his wife are plain, down to earth people absolutely loving what they're doing! They love the soil, the vines, wine, life! as we say in France - des bons vivants! And Jean-Michel can talk about wine like rarely I've heard people talk about wine! PASSIONATE!


So our evening started off with a perfectly boiled egg still in it's shell with a touch of foie gras inside - just to open the palate! Called 'Oeuf Toqué' which also means mad egg in slang!

Pierre, the delightful sommelier of L'Auberge, served us our first wine - Condrieu - a fantastic white wine made with 100% viognier grapes! This went perfectly with the pan seized scallops served with a pumpkin purée and a classical 'beurre blanc' that was served as the starter.


The main course accompanied by a delectable Saint Joseph (100% Syrah grapes) was roasted pigeon with mashed potatoes, a crusty triangle filled with more pigeon, mushrooms and crushed 'dragées' - sugar coated almonds - lending a divine sweetness to the 'ensemble'. A reduction of pigeon stock with soja sauce was the final touch!

The wait certainly was worth it as we were then served with the first 'Côte Rôtie' 2006 - Champin le Seigneur (90% Syrah and 10% Viognier) matching perfectly our very local cheese called 'La comtesse de Vichy' served on toast!



The top of the top was a 'Marquise au chocolat' served with a thick syrupy redwine!! YES!
The Côte Rôtie 2006 - Les Grandes Places (100% syrah) was just out of this world with the chocolate.


Now you know why it's so difficult to get these hips down to a decent size!!


And all of you out there - would've been nice to share this with you in real life!


Life is about sharing!


Bisous
Lynn

Shandor and the art of Sharing!

I am so privileged! 

Just back from 3 days in Paris where we celebrated the baptism of my latest godchild, Shandor! 

Now, this is the first time I have ever been godmother to a boy who has one godmother and 2 godfathers and who had a republican and church baptism!

What a lucky boy he is! 

A lovely Mama and Papa that love him to bits, grandfather on mama's side, grandmother on Papa's side - even a great grandmother of almost a 102 that shared this very special occassion with him - as well as a mixture of divine French people from all different walks of life and origins!

And a lucky boy he is especially to have his 2 godfathers living 3 floors below him in the same building!

And who were there for him, sharing their appartment with all the guests Saturday AND Sunday!

And not only that, Noel, who signed with me at the townhall on Saturday, made the most divine Pear and Chocolate Cake for the more formal lunch on Sunday. And dressed the tables and did shopping and and and......

I have asked him for his divine recipe and as soon as I have it, will post it! Promise!

Samuel, his partner who signed with me at the Protestant Temple on Sunday, organised, and cleaned and entertained and and and....

Samuel, Eric with Shandor, myself, Noel and Violaine at the Mairie of the 11th arrondissement in Paris

It is not for nothing that Shandor has a South African godmother - I had to add the bit of South African flavour and did the Bobotie* for the lunch on Sunday with the most divine curry that my friend Vanessay Pillay from Durban posted to me in Cape Town on my recent quick sejour in South Africa. Eric, Shandor's father who has done his doctorate on the South African Muslim Community, and I have know each other since my first year in Paris and this is going back 19 years! We've walked a long way together and he and his lovely wife Violaine got married here in the Auvergne in the town of Ambert, where you can find the divine cheese 'Fourme d'Ambert'* and we had the wedding party here Aux Jardins des Thevenets! 

Tables being set for Violaine and Eric's wedding party here in our courtyard

So basically this is just, as usual, about sharing. Sharing with those you love! Sharing in good times and also in bad times. Sharing with friends and family who might sometimes treat you badly because they hurt, and then the easiest is to hurt those close to you! Or they do not know different or do not realise that they hurt you! The lesson that I have learned again this weekend is that life is about sharing and what is really wonderful is that my beautiful godson, Shandor, will grow up with this notion of sharing as well as the influence of all the different people around him as his mother, Violaine, said in her beautiful text pronounced at the baptism!

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobotie

*Bobotie is a South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping. The recipe probably originates from the Dutch East India Company colonies in Batavia, with the name derived from the Indonesian Bobotok. It is also made with curry powder leaving it with a slight "tang". It is often served with Sambal.

*http://www.cheese-france.com/cheese/fourme_ambert.htm

* Fourme d'Ambert - Legend says that Fourme d'Ambert was already made at the time of the Druids and the Gauls. It is certainly one of the oldest cheeses in France along with Roquefort

On our Stoep*

*Stoep definition :

Afrikaans (my mothertongue) for a small porch or veranda situated at the entrance of the house

Our 'Stoep' here Aux Jardins des Thevenets has seen many a memorable moment, and is probably more of a terrace than a 'stoep'. With Oliver we build it and the pebbles incrusted in the cement were chosen one by one - there is a little fossile and just in front of the entrance door, a heart shaped stone to welcome everybody and tell them that this is 'La Maison du Bonheur!'

Friends and Family on the Stoep

In summer we dine outside until late into the night with our guests, watching the stars twinkle above us, very often seeing falling stars (I'm still in 2 about whether it is falling stars or shooting stars) and it is also the usual breakfast place weather permitting. 

For Olivier and I, it is the place where, with the first rays of sunshine after the long gray winter, we have lunch outside covered in big snug jerseys or we lunch late into the fall like we did this year - still lunching outside mid november! Unheard of! And it is the place where we lunch or dine with our friends from near and far!

Being due south, it heats up very quickly and in the corner, a fig tree bears its load even late into the fall. With the green figs at the end of the season, I do a wonderful green fig preserve! I found various recipes and share some of them here with you.

Confettura di Fichi - From Italian Food (Canada, UK) by Elizabeth David - (British Cookery Writer of the mid 20th century http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_David)

Ingredients:

2 lb. of green figs

3/4 lb. of sugar

grated peel of 2 lemons

juice of 2 lemons

Instructions:

Put all the ingredients into a pan together and cook for about 1-1/2 hours.

An old Cape Recipe:

Two species of wild figs grow in the Cape, both of which have been made into jam from the earliest times. A traveller who visited the Cape in 1815 recorded that konfyt was made from the Hottentot fig and served as conserve with afternoon coffee. The method of preserving firm, ripe figs is in accordance with Chinese methods, without additional flavouring of any sort, as the flavour of figs is considered quite perfect.

1 kg firm, ripe green figs (stems intact)
15 ml slaked lime
2,5 litres cold water
1,2 kg sugar
1 stick cinnamon
30 ml lemon juice

Cut a cross at the base of each fig. Mix the slaked lime in the water, add the figs and leave overnight to soak. This ensures the fruit will be tender, yet have a crisp skin. Rinse thoroughly, place in a bowl of clean, cold water and set aside.

Place sufficient fresh water in a deep saucepan to immerse the figs, add the fruit and boil for about 15 minutes until tender. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander. Measure the water, and make up to 2 litres. Pour back into the saucepan, add the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. (Don't allow the syrup to boil until this has happened.)

Drop in the figs one by one (don't allow it to go off the boil) and boil fairly rapidly, uncovered, for about 45 minutes until the fruit is translucent and the syrup has thickened slightly. Pack figs into hot, dry, sterilised jars, fill with the syrup and seal. MAKES 2 x 500 G BOTTLES

 

Stoep covered in snow

But I get back to my little 'signature' at the end of my posts - all this is about sharing! Somehow our old lady (the house) makes people feel so at home that there's just a natural flow of sharing going on! For those of you who have never been to a B & B that does 'table d'hôte, it means that you arrive at a home where you've never been before, meet the owners and the other guests and a couple of hours later, you are all around the same table eating the meal that the hostess have prepared (a fixed menu with no choices!). This might seem daunting, but let me tell you, most of the time it works so well, and people actually become friends, exchanging adresses and often if they stay for a couple of days, going out on the same excursions!

The table set for a late autumn lunch with the fig tree as a backdrop

Our 'stoep' has also heard many confessions! People that stay with us very often open up and tell us their life stories, their joy, their laughter, their pain. For the space of an evening or two they let themselves be cradled by the wonderful welcoming feel of our home and for us, this is such a reward!

That is surely what life is about?

Sharing!

Bisous

Lynn